Jeremy Clarkson is in line for a windfall of up to £15m because of BBC efforts
to close the loopholes that lead to stars being overpaid.

The broadcaster’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, has bought the Top Gear host out of Bedder 6, the controversial joint venture company they set up together in 2007, as part of a clamp down on complicated accounting practices designed to bolster star pay.

BBC Worldwide established Bedder 6 with Mr Clarkson and Top Gear’s producer, Andy Wilman, as a way of boosting their income without taking the money directly from the BBC licence fee.

However, in a signal that the BBC’s new director general, George Entwistle, has had enough of this sort of arrangement, the corporation has now unravelled the deal.

BBC Worldwide has put Mr Clarkson and his co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond back on a straightforward talent contract, tying them into the car series for the next three years.

It has also taken full ownership of Bedder 6 – paying Mr Clarkson and Mr Wilman handsomely in the process.

Mr Clarkson will receive more than £10m for his share of Bedder 6, rising to £15m depending on its performance, whilst Mr Wilman is in line for a windfall of up to £10m. “This agreement secures the commercial future of Top Gear without using a penny of licence fee money,” a BBC Worldwide spokesman said. “It allows us to continue to grow the brand around the world, reinvest in Top Gear and return profits to the BBC.”

Bedder was established when the BBC was facing a constant barrage of criticism over the amount of money it paid out to its star presenters, but feared it would lose Top Gear altogether if it didn’t find an alternative way of matching offers from the corporation’s commercial rivals.

Last year, Mr Clarkson’s 30 per cent stake in Bedder 6 helped him become the BBC’s highest paid presenter. The company, which makes money from selling the rights to sell Top Gear merchandise or make international versions of the show, paid Mr Clarkson a £1.8 million dividend and a £350,000 talent fee on top of his BBC salary. The broadcaster is thought to have paid him around £500,000 a year, taking his total pay as a television host to £3.55 million.

Bedder 6 made a pre-tax profit of £15.2m last year, on around £40m of revenues from licensing Top Gear merchandise and staging live events around the world.

Earlier this month, Mr Entwistle said he wouldn’t “bankrupt” the BBC by offering big money deals to big name stars. “We should fight to hang on to the people we love, but we should never bankrupt ourselves to keep them because that’s not what we are for,” he added.